GitHub - getprobo/mcpgen: go generate based mcp server library

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mcpgen

Overview

mcpgen is a code generator for Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers in Go, inspired by gqlgen.

mcpgen takes a schema-first approach to building MCP servers. Define your tools, resources, and prompts in a YAML configuration file with JSON Schema definitions, and mcpgen generates type-safe Go code including:

  • Type-safe Go structs from JSON Schemas
  • MCP server boilerplate with the official go-sdk
  • Handler function stubs ready for your business logic

Features

  • Schema-First Development: Define MCP primitives (tools, resources, prompts) in YAML with JSON Schema
  • Type-Safe Code Generation: Generate Go structs from JSON Schema Draft 2020-12
  • Custom Type Mapping: Use your own Go types instead of generated ones (like gqlgen)
  • Omittable Fields: Distinguish between "not set", "null", and "value" with go.probo.inc/mcpgen/omittable (like gqlgen's @goField(omittable: true))
  • Official SDK Integration: Uses the official modelcontextprotocol/go-sdk
  • Handler Preservation: Regeneration preserves your handler implementations
  • gqlgen-Inspired: Familiar workflow if you've used gqlgen

Installation

go install go.probo.inc/mcpgen@latest

Or build from source:

git clone https://github.com/probo-inc/mcpgen
cd mcpgen
go build -o mcpgen

Quick Start

1. Initialize a new project

mcpgen init my-mcp-server
cd my-mcp-server

This creates:

my-mcp-server/
├── mcpgen.yaml           # Configuration file
├── schemas/              # JSON Schema definitions
│   └── example_input.json
├── main.go               # Entry point
└── README.md

2. Define your MCP primitives

Edit mcpgen.yaml:

server:
  name: my-mcp-server
  version: 1.0.0

tools:
  - name: calculate
    description: Perform arithmetic operations
    input_schema: schemas/calculate_input.json

resources:
  - uri: docs://readme
    name: Project README
    description: The project README file
    mime_type: text/markdown

prompts:
  - name: greeting
    description: A friendly greeting
    arguments:
      - name: name
        description: Name of person to greet
        required: false

3. Create JSON Schemas

Define schemas in the schemas/ directory:

{
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "operation": {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": ["add", "subtract", "multiply", "divide"]
    },
    "a": {
      "type": "number",
      "description": "First operand"
    },
    "b": {
      "type": "number",
      "description": "Second operand"
    }
  },
  "required": ["operation", "a", "b"]
}

4. Generate code

This generates:

  • generated/models.go - Type-safe Go structs
  • generated/server.go - MCP server setup
  • generated/resolver.go - Handler stubs (first time only)

5. Implement handlers

Edit generated/resolver.go:

func (r *Resolver) Calculate(ctx context.Context, req *mcp.CallToolRequest, args map[string]any) (*mcp.CallToolResult, map[string]any, error) {
    operation := args["operation"].(string)
    a := args["a"].(float64)
    b := args["b"].(float64)

    var result float64
    switch operation {
    case "add":
        result = a + b
    case "subtract":
        result = a - b
    case "multiply":
        result = a * b
    case "divide":
        if b == 0 {
            return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("division by zero")
        }
        result = a / b
    }

    return &mcp.CallToolResult{
        Content: []mcp.Content{
            &mcp.TextContent{
                Text: fmt.Sprintf("Result: %f", result),
            },
        },
    }, map[string]any{"result": result}, nil
}

6. Build and run

go mod init my-mcp-server
go mod tidy
go build -o server
./server

Configuration Reference

Server Configuration

server:
  name: my-server       # Required: Server name
  version: 1.0.0        # Required: Server version

Code Generation Options

exec:
  filename: generated/server.go  # Server code output
  package: generated             # Package name

model:
  filename: generated/models.go  # Models output
  package: generated             # Package name

resolver:
  filename: generated/resolver.go  # Resolver stubs output
  type: Resolver                   # Resolver type name
  package: generated               # Package name
  preserve_resolver: true          # Don't overwrite on regeneration

Tools

tools:
  - name: tool_name                      # Required: Tool identifier
    description: Tool description        # Optional: Human-readable description
    input_schema: schemas/input.json     # Required: JSON Schema for input
    output_schema: schemas/output.json   # Optional: JSON Schema for output

Resources

Static resources:

resources:
  - uri: docs://readme               # Required: Resource URI
    name: README                     # Required: Display name
    description: Project README      # Optional
    mime_type: text/markdown        # Optional

Resource templates (dynamic URIs):

resources:
  - uri_template: users://{id}/profile  # Required: URI template
    name: User Profile                  # Required
    description: User profile data      # Optional
    mime_type: application/json        # Optional
    uri_params:                        # Parameters from template
      - name: id
        type: string
        description: User ID

Prompts

prompts:
  - name: prompt_name           # Required: Prompt identifier
    description: Description    # Optional
    arguments:                  # Optional: Prompt arguments
      - name: arg_name
        description: Arg description
        required: true

Commands

mcpgen init [name]

Initialize a new MCP server project with example configuration.

mcpgen generate

Generate code from mcpgen.yaml configuration.

mcpgen generate

# Specify custom config file
mcpgen generate --config custom-config.yaml

mcpgen version

Print mcpgen version.

How It Works

  1. Configuration Loading: mcpgen reads your mcpgen.yaml file
  2. Schema Loading: JSON Schemas are loaded and $ref references resolved
  3. Type Generation: Go structs are generated from JSON Schemas
  4. Server Generation: MCP server boilerplate is generated with tool/resource/prompt registration
  5. Resolver Generation: Handler stubs are generated (only if they don't exist)

MCP Primitives

Tools

Tools let LLMs interact with external systems. Each tool has:

  • Name: Unique identifier (alphanumeric, underscore, dash, dot)
  • Description: What the tool does
  • Input Schema: JSON Schema defining parameters (required)
  • Output Schema: JSON Schema for result validation (optional)

Resources

Resources provide context to LLMs via URIs:

  • Static Resources: Fixed URI (e.g., docs://readme)
  • Resource Templates: Dynamic URIs (e.g., users://{id}/profile)

Prompts

Prompts are reusable templates for LLM interactions with optional arguments.

Comparison with gqlgen

Feature gqlgen mcpgen
Schema Language GraphQL SDL JSON Schema
Protocol GraphQL MCP (JSON-RPC 2.0)
Core Primitives Queries, Mutations, Subscriptions Tools, Resources, Prompts
Generation Resolvers, models Handlers, models
Schema-first ✅ ✅
Preserve implementations ✅ ✅
Type safety ✅ ✅

Custom Type Mapping

You can use your own Go types instead of generated ones, similar to gqlgen's model binding.

Using Schema Annotations (Recommended)

Add go.probo.inc/mcpgen/type annotations in your JSON Schema:

components:
  schemas:
    # Use time.Time for timestamps
    Timestamp:
      type: string
      format: date-time
      go.probo.inc/mcpgen/type: time.Time

    # Use UUID package
    UUID:
      type: string
      format: uuid
      go.probo.inc/mcpgen/type: github.com/google/uuid.UUID

    # Use your own domain models
    User:
      type: object
      properties:
        id:
          type: string
        name:
          type: string
      go.probo.inc/mcpgen/type: github.com/myorg/models.User

When you reference these schemas, mcpgen will:

  • Skip generating types for them
  • Use your custom types instead
  • Automatically add necessary imports

See docs/custom-types.md for full documentation.

Examples

See the examples/ directory for complete working examples.

Development

Building

Testing

Contributing

Contributions welcome. Please submit a Pull Request.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments